Moral Philosophy
Can desires and feelings be in accordance with or contrary to reason? Are they under the control of, or guided by, reason? Compare, contrast, and critically evaluate the answers of Aristotle and Hume to these questions and their arguments in support of those answers.

David Hume is one of the most significant philosophers of the 18th Century. Hume is skeptical about moral truths, and he ascertains that ethics comes from feelings, and not reason. Hume argues that moral judgments are founded on sentiment, feelings of disapproval or approval and not reason. He furthers ascertains that feelings and desires are independent of reason. According to Hume, reason handles the connection of concepts or matters of fact. An examination of common moral evils discloses neither links of concepts nor matters of fact, but only sentiment (Hume 16).

To confirm that desires and feelings are not in accordance with reason, and that they are…...

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Work Cited

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Irwin, Hackett, 2nd ed. 1999.

Bentham, Jeremy, John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism and Other Essay. New York: Penguin 1987.

Hergenhahn, B.R. An introduction to the history of psychology. New York: Cengage Learning, March 30, 2008.

Hume, David. Moral Philosophy. London: Sayre-McCord, Hackett 2006

Moral Philosophy
It is contemporary man's tendency to place himself atop of the evolutionary cycle of human development. Today's man with his technology and his gadgets believes that he is superior to his ancestors in many ways. Ancient philosophy and the mystery of its origins are still contemplated and studied in wide fashion today, but only by those who understand the timeless importance of truth and necessity.

The purpose of this essay is to describe the relevance of ancient philosophy to the morality of today. This essay will examine how the Platonic school of philosophy, inherited by the ideas of Socrates, The Bible and Kant all have considerably contributed to the modern understanding of morality, action, truth and harmony.

Although Socrates never wrote one word that has been found, his ideas carried out by the efforts of Plato and his academic efforts allow his ideas to still live. Solon and Pythagoras contributed mightily…...

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References

The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Ed. Michael D. Coogan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.

"Kant's Moral Philosophy." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Published 6 Apr 2008. Retrieved from  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/ 

Plato. Timeaus.

(Ethics: The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In essence, it can be said that moral philosophy is the field in which questions about what is good, what is bad, what is right, what is wrong are all dealt with, in addition to certain moral principles that an average human being follows through his lifetime. Some of the more popular questions which may be raised during a moral philosophy session could be: how must one live? Must one live in pursuit of happiness, or of knowledge, or of both? If one happened to choose to pursue happiness, then must it apply to oneself, or to everyone? It is right to lie or to dishonest, if it is for a good cause? It is right to live with all material benefits, while in some parts of the world people are starving to death? These are just a few of the questions that one…...

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References

Ethics" The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved at   Accessed 30 August, 2006http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm .

Moore, G.E. (1922) "The nature of moral philosophy, by GE Moore" Philosophical

Studies. Retrieved at   Accessed 30 August, 2006http://www.ditext.com/moore/nmp.html .

Sofroniou, Andreas. (2003) "Moral Philosophy, the ethical approach through the ages"

Moral Philosophy
Ethical Theories on Animals. The treatment of animals has historically evolved along with human beings' changing views of them. A number of theories trace this changing treatment to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic times when people exercised absolute dominion over animals (Sanders 2004). It was their religious belief that God gave man absolute dominion over animals and to do to them as he pleased or estimated. French philosopher Rene Descartes and other sadist thinkers reinforced this absolute dominion theory in that, since animals do not have the rational faculties of man, they could be treated as less than human and without mitigation. The non-malevolence theory eliminated mean motives but recognized that man could do what he pleased with animals. This was the position of Hinduism, Jainism and uddhism. German philosopher Immanuel Kant supported the anthropocentric theory, which reduced the dignity of man in proportion to the harm he inflicted on animals. This…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Holt, Tim. The Teleological Argument. Philosophy of Religion, 2005.  http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/teleological.html 

2. Jones, Roger. Existentialism. Philosopher.org., 2003.  http://www.philosopher.org.uk/existen.htm 

3. MacDonald, Andrew. Theories of Animal Rights. NSW Young Lawyers Animal Rights Committee, 1995

4. Sanders. Susan E. Wilson. Animal Rights: a Bioethical Approach to Our Relationship with Animals. A lecture on Research Animal Methods, September 13, 2004.  http://www.ahsc.arizona.edu/uac/notes/classic.ethics/ethics04.htm

Review the Feldman reading this week about euthanasia and assisted suicide as well as the online article on Christ's physical death. Many argue that assisted suicide or euthanasia is justified because it relieves a person from suffering. What are your thoughts about euthanasia, given what Christ did for us?

If I had the liberty of being perfectly honest about my own genuine response to the issue, I would have to admit that I still do not understand the conceptual relevance of Christ's suffering to a living person's moral right to spare himself or herself from suffering when the only escape is death. To me, allowing a person to escape intractable pain is much more consistent with the notion of God's love and compassion than requiring a person to endure pain against his or her will.

Christ did not choose to suffer; his suffering was forced upon him by the wrongful and wicked…...

This would make the resource pool of charity large enough for the deprived sections of the society.
2): On the issue of morality Singer in his writing refers about the Brazilian film Central Station in which Dora, a poor retired school teacher gets an opportunity to earn $1,000 by handing over a 9-year-old homeless boy to an address where the boy will be fostered by wealthy foreigners. She hands over the boy, earns the money and buys a television to enjoy, only to be told by his neighbor that the boy will be killed and his organs used for human transplant. Dora gets upset and she decides to bring back the boy. In this situation Dora becomes a pawn of an immoral act without her knowledge following which she suffers from emotional turmoil. Had Dora acted otherwise without expressing any qualms of her actions, the author maintains, the audience would…...

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References

Marquis, Don. Why Abortion is Immoral.

Singer, Peter. The Singer Solution to World Poverty.

Narveson, Jan. Feeding the Hungry.

Moral decisions in business are best served by adhering to the ethical code of rule ultilitarianism. ule utilitarianism provides a workable code for businesses, especially in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom financial scandals. By adopting rule utilitarianism, businesses can help to prevent serious damage caused by decisions based solely on the consequences of a single act, and instead allow businesses to focus on ethical rules that ensure the best long-term benefit for society.
Utilitarianism is a type of normative ethics, and as such is interested in the practical standards that deal with right and wrong actions. In many ways, normative ethics acts as a "search for an ideal litmus test of proper behavior" (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Further, utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory of ethics, and as such determines ethical conduct by looking at the consequences of actions (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

In essence, ultitarianism argues that an…...

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References

Buschert, Will. Notes on Utilitarianism. PHIL 235.3 - Ethical Issues in Business and the Professions. 09 May 2004. http://duke.usask.ca/~wjb289/PHL235/transparencies/Utilitarianism.PDF

Lahart, Justin. The death of confidence: WorldCom's gigantic fraud may send investors to the exits for a long, long time. CNN.com, July 8, 2002: 10:20 AM EDT. 09 May 2004.  http://money.cnn.com/2002/06/26/news/worldcom_shoedrops/ 

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ethics. 09 May 2004.  http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm

Bentham Utility
Jeremy Bentham's philosophical theory of utilitarianism presented a unique metaphysic that may apply to some ways of practical though. The theory itself is an ethical guideline used to help present cases of morality. The theory, developed in the 19th century supposes that right action corresponds with the result that produces the most good. When an action has accomplished such a transition is said to have some sort of utility and therefore useful in its applications.

To me, the theory is too dogmatic, confusing and does not address ethics in a very frank and honest way. To understand this theory and to see how it applies in a personal manner requires an investigation into some of the key terms of the theory to explore their meanings and see how they contribute to the general argument.

One issue I have with this theory is its avoidance of quality in respect to quantity. Bentham…...

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References

Buckminster Fuller Institute (nd). Synergetics. Viewed 3 April 2014. Retrieved from  http://bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/synergetics

Kant Theories and Criticism
Kant's Theories and Criticism

Kant's Theories and Criticism

Kant's work with respect to good will and morality is appreciable but is also criticized in numerous manners. The philosophical phenomenon of Kant addresses the moral conduct with respect to good will but fails to address this acceptance universally. In this study, the contribution and postulation of Kant are discussed and are enlightened with respect to the critics that are made against his work.

To Maria Von Herbert, January 1793

To Kant, from Maria Von Herbert

Kant has determined the three types of motivation which enables the individuals to carry out certain activities and adopt certain behaviors in their life which comprises on ones' thinking about the rightfulness of that activity, the extent of pleasure related to performing such rightful activities and ones' tendency to be impelled in order to carry out certain tasks. This degree of motivation enable a person to indulge in…...

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REFERENCES

Kant, I. (2002). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals.Yale University Press.

Korsgaard, C. (1986). The right to lie: Kant on dealing with evil. Philosophy and Public Affairs 15(4), 325-349.

Langton, R. (2012). Maria von Herbert's challenge to Kant.Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory, 377.

Thus, according to Mill, a state of thriving morality would be that in which each individual constantly pursues his own happiness and at the same time that of the others, through all his actions. Mills uses as a central argument for his theory of morality the 'golden rule' of Christianity, as he calls it, which states that each individual should only act as he in his turn would be acted upon by his fellow beings and that each person should love his neighbor as himself: "In the golden rule of Jesus we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility: 'to do as you would be done by' and 'to love your neighbor as yourself."(Mills, 17) Morality is thus grounded on the awareness and the pursuit of individual good as well as the good of the whole.
Of the two theories described here, Kant's metaphysics of morality seems to…...

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Works Cited

Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.

Mill, John Stuart. What is Utilitarianism.

Prichard Moral Philosophy
Why does Prichard think moral philosophy rest on a mistake?

Prichard believes that moral philosophy rests on mistake for a variety of reasons. Moral theory in essence attempts to define whether people can distinguish right from wrong. When a person performs any action, the action must logically result from a motivating factor or thought process. Moral worth and philosophy is determined by the motive of a person, and consequently rests on mistake, because the concept of good and evil or right vs. wrong according to Prichard should not rest on motive.

Prichard questions what as a people, are "we really going to learn by Moral Philosophy" and states that the "aim of the subject" of moral philosophy is obscure (Prichard, 1912). Prichard believes that the subject of moral philosophy as typically defined and understood by society rests on a mistake that is parallel to a subject called "theory of knowledge"…...

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Bibliography

Prichard. "Does Moral Philosophy Rest On Mistake?" Mind, N.S. Vol 21, 1912. Retrieved December 15, 2003,  http://www.ditext.com/prichard/mistake.html 

Morality." Retrieved December 15, 2003,  http://www.peacegames.com/Consensus/morality.html

Sleepers in the Context Of Kant's Moral Philosophy
Barry Levinson's 1996 motion picture Sleepers provides viewers with a shocking (and intriguing at the same time) account involving a group of boys who perform a horrible crime as a result of wanting to prank someone and end up in a juvenile center where they are subjected to a series of brutal abuses. The scene when the boys accidentally kill a person as they want to prank the hot dog vendor is especially interesting. Looking at matters from a perspective involving Kant's moral philosophy, it would seem that it is wrong to judge the boys solely based on how they murder an innocent human being.

When considering Kant's moral philosophy, it seems that the boys have a complex understanding of the situation they are in and of the role they need to play in this respective situation. Kant's Categorical Imperative theory perfectly applies in…...

There are several ways that BP could have chosen to respond, all of which were "open" to them (i.e. they had free will), yet those chose to take paths that were less moral. Kant's universal law would have them put their responsibility to humanity as the motivator, however, their motives have not proven to be driven by doing what is genuinely good for humanity.
Blackburn (2009) states that it is tricky to apply the categorical imperative and that the most persuasive examples of it being effective are in cases where there is an institution whose existence depends on sufficient performance by a sufficient number of individuals.

Suppose, as is plausible, that our ability to give and receive promises depends upon general compliance with the principle of keeping promises. Were we to break them sufficiently often, or were promise-breaking to become a 'law of nature,' then there would be no such thing…...

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References:

Blackburn, S. (2009). Ethics: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kant, I. (2010). Groundwork of the metaphysic morals. Trans H.J. Paton. Introduction philosophy: Classical and contemporary readings. Eds. John Perry, Michael Bratman,

and John Martin Fischer. (5th edition). New York: Oxford. 504-20.

Lyon, Susan. (2010). Climate Progress. Retrieved on August 24, 2010, from the Web site:

For example, before Newton, gravity was not considered a reality because the force of gravity itself cannot be perceived via the senses. The scientific method corrects for sensory shortcomings. However, philosophers must endeavor to think beyond that which the senses deliver.
Morality, Philosophy, and Technology

Discussion 1: Human/Robot Interface

Current robotics technologies depend on strong human controls; no android exists that can survive independently of a human being either for its creation or for its sustenance. No android can therefore be considered alive in any reasonable definition of the word. Therefore, robots are dependent on humans. Robots do not make decisions; humans make decisions and program robots to execute those decisions. In the same way that a human being operates an automatic weapon to kill another person, so too does a human being operate a robot to kill another person. Therefore, human beings are always responsible for the actions carried out by…...

The question arising from this claim is whether evidence exists to prove that there exists an infinitely good, powerful, and wise God where morality naturally emerges. Humes argues that is hard to imagine that an all-good, powerful God exists in this world full of pain and misery. From these claims, one can argue that this insight, or God, has both evil and good, as is present in man if man is in God's image and likeliness.
Immanuel Kant: from the Critique of Pure Reason, the Good Will and the Categorical Imperative, the Postulates of Practical Reason

Kant believes that the vigorous application of same methods of reasoning can yield to an equal development in dealing with the issues of moral philosophy. Kant proposes a list of categories of Freedom in Relation to the concept of good vs. evil. Kant uses logical distinction as the basis for the catalog. Even though everything…...

I. Introduction
- Introduce the topic of war and the need for justification
- Briefly mention some historical examples of justified wars

II. Definition of Justification of War
- Define what it means to justify a war
- Explain the criteria for a war to be considered justified

III. Moral Justification of War
- Discuss the concept of a "just war" in moral philosophy
- Explain the conditions for a war to be considered morally justified
- Discuss the idea of self-defense as a justification for war

IV. Legal Justification of War
- Describe the legal framework for justifying war, such as the UN Charter and international....

In conclusion, Plato's philosophy continues to exert a profound influence on modern thought across various domains. His ideas on knowledge and reality have shaped epistemology, influencing theories such as rationalism and empiricism. His ethical principles, emphasizing virtue and the pursuit of wisdom, have guided moral philosophy and the development of ethical frameworks. Moreover, his political philosophy, advocating for an ideal state governed by reason and justice, has inspired discussions on political theory and the role of government. Plato's concept of the soul, with its immortal and rational nature, has influenced religious and spiritual beliefs, fostering inquiry into the nature of....